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Coming in hot at the peak of their winter tour, Greensky Bluegrass played the House of Blues closing out the 6 week long mid-winter melt down, Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival 2015. This festival is a showcase of independent music for the critical music lover. Over the years, the fest has expanded to more locations with more acts and over a longer span of the winter months. CBB 2015 has focused its execution of smaller intimate acts at smaller clubs while bigger ragers can let loose with SCI at the Aragon Ballroom and this evening’s performance of GSBG at HOB.

Joe Russo's Almost Dead | Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is a day full of love whether you are with someone or single. So many people are divided about how they should feel on this day. For someone like me who loves holidays and live music, there was nothing better for me to do than to enjoy this day with my daughter, support the One Billion Rising March against abuse in Denver, and then seeing some of my favorite musicians performing their interpretations of one of my favorite band’s music. We were lucky enough to have Joe Russo’s Almost Dead perform in our area on this weekend full of love. And they definitely brought the heat and passion to one of the best first sets of 2015 so far.

Jeff Austin | Fayetteville, AR | Review

It had been nearly a year since Jeff Austin took the stage at George’s Majestic Lounge. This time he did so with his very own band and his very own style: electrifying. From the moment The Jeff Austin Band took over a red hot stage from openers, Old Salt Union, the energy never waned. Opening their set with the classic “Raleigh and Spencer” we knew immediately that Austin was there to please the fans. Only briefly pausing in-between songs for tuning and funny looks, the entire evening was filled with an emotional high that will have us reeling in the good times for days to come.

Grateful Web Interview w/ Andrew Altman

This past week, singer, songwriter and multi-faceted bass wizard Andrew Altman of Railroad Earth sat down with the Grateful Web to discuss the debut of his self-titled solo album, produced by JRAD’s Tom Hamilton. The animated conversation also veered into discussion about some of the similarities and differences between upright and electric bass, Railroad Earth’s electric performance at Red Rocks this past summer, and Altman’s major musical influences including Phil Lesh and Mike Gordon among many others.

Joe Russo's Almost Dead | 2/16/15 | Review

Before I saw Joe Russo’s Almost Dead for the first time Monday night, I totally misunderstood the band’s titular pun. I can’t help but laugh at my sheer stupidity, but I thought it was a combination of “Hey, we’re a Grateful Dead cover band” and “When our drummer parties, we have 911 on speed dial”. But just 15 minutes into JRAD’s first set at the Boulder Theater, it dawned on me. I was listening to music that bore only a tangential connection to The Grateful Dead. I heard a Dark Star riff and even Dark Star lyrics. But the sound was not quite, exactly, almost…and then the light finally went on in my head: “Ohhh! I get it – it’s almost Dead.” Ding, ding, ding. (I’m an idiot – I know.)

The Motet w/ Keller Williams | The Fillmore

The overflowing wall-to-wall Fillmore crowd was ecstatic and Keller Williams even came out for a brief appearance with properly campy results. Dubbed as a “late night dance party” it was much larger than that for Colorado’s Motet. It was their moment to come in their contemporaneous formation and show San Francisco what they’re made of. The Open Vape sponsored tour of the West looked to be wildly successful at the other gigs as well. Go ahead and check out Motet music on Soundcloud and pick up a copy of their recent self-titled album. Most importantly, check out the band live. It’s always something fresh and buoyant. Cheers and props to my Colorado brethren for crushing their first Fillmore performance. Many more to come!

moe.'s 25th Anniversary Tour - Denver, CO

I attended the February 6th show at the Ogden Theater, and it just felt like home. I was with old and new friends, and there is just something calming and comfortable about a moe. crowd. There are very little judgments made by moerons. It is a place of acceptance, community, and raw power. It seems like the band is as easy going as their following. They are very personal and open with their fan base. This is what separates those who stay the course from those who crash and burn.

Joe Russo's Almost Dead | Burlington, VT

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is comfortable with the music. They are seamlessly answering each other’s musical questions, skirting the outer limits of improvisation. A good jamband can comfortably return from the open spaces of their jams and fluidly hook back into the song’s guiding rhythm and sound, so as to show that the band never lost control. It’s a beautiful symphony of chaos and control. This night, the symphony never ended.

The Everyone Orchestra Celebrates Cervantes' 12th Anniversary

The Everyone Orchestra played two nights at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom for their 12th anniversary, and luckily for me, I was there the first night, and came the second night after Electron. Both experiences were unique and uplifting. Every time Butler drafts a new squad of talent, it seems to get better and better. This incantation included: Oteil Burbidge (The Allman Brothers), Al Schnier (moe.), Durga McBroom (Pink Floyd vocals), Eric Krasno (Soulive), Jeremy Salken (Big Gigantic), Robert Walter (Greyboy Allstars), Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band), Dave Watts, Joey Porter, Jans Ingbar, Gabe Mervine, Matt Pitts (The Motet), and extra special guest Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds).

String Cheese Incident | Eugene | 1/19/15

It’s an unenviable task for any “jam-band” still crisscrossing the country in a tie-dyed convoy of magic-buses to distinguish itself from snide but on target quips about surfing the wake of the skeleton-steered, psychedelic flag-ship—the S.S. Grateful Dead. Yet, inquiring minds want to know, what separates the “String Cheesers” (as the Intrepid One, Ken Babbs, once humorously introduced them) from the myriad of similarly styled troubadours still playing “The Pied Piper” for beatified fans?

Grateful Web Interview with Joe Russo

When it comes to modern day interpretations of the American Songbook that is Grateful Dead, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is causally setting the bar. With an illustrious thirty years of Dead tunes to choose from, former Further drummer Joe Russo and his grateful gang of east coast friends are reinvigorating songs and arrangements that have been played to a pulp. At a time where Deadhead fervor is reaching peaks in anticipation of the fiftieth anniversary "Fare The Well" shows in Chicago, JRAD is soaking up the added attention and reveling in it. Russo recently called the Grateful Web’s John Schumm prior to a near-two year anniversary show at Pete Shapiro’s Brooklyn Bowl. In a wide ranging conversation touching on the bands’ unexpected and organic growth, the number of new shows in a variety of markets and how much fun he’s having playing these songs and improvising with his longtime friends, the always humble drummer sounds right at home and energized for a multi-project filled 2015.

Rocklin Reignites STS9! New Year's Run

The title of this review does not just come from my opinion as a music writer in the scene since the mid-nineties. I have heard this from nearly every person that I have heard talk about STS9 for the last year or so including members of the band. I was lucky enough to catch half of their four night run at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, and I saw them at least three other times in the past year. The semi new addition of STS9 is the bass player Alana Rocklin, who has propelled a new life and launching point for the already successfully established force. She adds an element that is tough to describe. Her presence, grace, and general badassness has captivated audiences around the country since she replaced David “Murph” Murphy last year.

The New Deal | The Independent | Review

It’s interesting to be able to think back on the music of the 1990s, let alone the 2000s and what evolved in the live music concert experience. The reemergence of the multi-day music festival gave the jam band revival a venue to gig multiple shows at once and get closer with the fans. What also changed was what kind of music was being performing in a live setting. There was always a separation between the deejay persona and electronica music from the whole rock’n’roll bands that jammed. That certainly changed with the growing popularity of summer music festivals. Live bands began to use digital interface technology and computers to create live improvised electronica music. It took the feeling of being at a rave to the next level. Acts like Sound Tribe Sector Nine, Pneuma Trio and Bassnectar drew enormous popularity by combining the skills of an MC with the supremacy of live musicianship. Perhaps the most powerful of them all to come out of the livetronica explosion was Toronto’s The New Deal.

Fox Street | Bluebird Theater | Review

Fox Street is one of those bands I wouldn’t expect to be based in Colorado. Florida possibly, Texas I could see, but Colorado is a bit of a wildcard. Maybe it’s Jonathan Huvards’ throat churning, rocky road vocals. Then again it could be the picking, sliding and stomping of their close-knit instrumental unit that screams southern roots. Whatever it is, they’ve distinguished themselves through a blend of multi-regional sounds, and in turn found themselves with a headlining slot at the Bluebird Theater on an East Colfax Friday night.

Nels Cline & Julian Lage | Berkeley | Review

Nels Cline’s music brings tangibility to abstraction. Over the years, as bandleader or featured sideman, his approach has little preconception of where the music needs to go or how his audience will respond to it. It’s the next evolution in the jazz idiom. While younger generations might know Cline as the non-exemplary lead guitar of alt rock band Wilco, his career as an established jazz authority dates back to the mid 80s. Julian Lage is part of a group of gifted free musicians that are building on the newgrass fusion style created in the late 1960s. Bringing elements of chamber orchestration and jazz modalities to a contemporary string music approach is also part of the next evolution in the jazz idiom. Guitar virtuoso Lage is a member of legendary vibes man Gary Burton’s New Quartet and frequently collaborates with members of Punch Brothers, Mark O’Connor, Bela Fleck and most recently Nels Cline. The two men aren’t separated by their large generation gaps. At ages twenty-seven and fifty-nine it’s astonishing how perfectly their diverse melodic tactics blend together.

Grateful Web Interview with Jeff Austin

2015 marks the beginning of a refreshing new chapter for Mr. Jeff Austin. Between the birth of his second child and the upcoming release of his debut solo album The Simple Truth accompanied by Danny Barnes, Eric Thorin and Ross Martin, it’s safe to say that the quirky 40-year-old mandolinist has been staying busy since his departure from Yonder Mountain String Band early last year. Jeff Austin Band’s debut winter tour kicks off this week in Colorado and will feature a number of West and Midwest dates before finishing up at Winter Wondergrass Festival in Vail. Mr. Austin was kind enough to sit down with the Grateful Web this past week to discuss his new solo project, the evolution of bluegrass music over the past 18 years, as well as some of his biggest personal musical influences of this generation.

Yonder Mountain String Band | 1/1/2015

Yonder opened with “All Aboard > Left Me in a Hole,” which is one of my favorite vocal songs that they play. And it was only after “Hello City Limits and Sometimes I’ve Won,” that their guests started appearing with them on stage. First up was Nashville’s own Shawn Camp. Camp is like a modern day Johnny Cash. He led them through one of his songs, “Damned if the Right One Didn’t Go Wrong.” After, Blues Traveler’s John Popper came on to a loud applause from the crowd. I have been a fan of Blues Traveler and John Popper since the mid-nineties. He is a ton of talent between his vocals and his second to none harmonica work. It was so great to see him back on the scene. He came on along with Camp for “Complicated,” and then they played Traveler’s famous “Run Around.” The crowd loved it, and he destroyed the harp solo. They stayed on stage for the end of the set, which was “Pockets, Fingerprint > Shakedown Street.” And of course, “Shakedown Street” was a dance party.

The String Cheese Incident | 12/29/2014

For the third year running, jam-grass veterans The String Cheese Incident set up their New Year’s Eve residency at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado for three nights of songs and celebration in their own backyard. The rear of the seated bowl was sparse Monday, but a creeping night one buzz helped melt conversations about the negative temperatures outside. Before too long the heads were hiding their winter jackets and sniffing out opportunities to sneak onto the general admission floor without spilling beer on their event posters. Others stood in awe of the glitter adorned stilt-walkers in the atrium. Regardless, the hometown musical circus had certainly moved in.

DJ Russo & the Funky Meters Funk Up Denver

By the time the Funky Meters walked on, we were ready to go, and what better way to start then to see a cake being delivered to the legendary Art Neville by two beautiful women to sing happy birthday to him. It was his 77th birthday, and after the birthday jam they went into a cheerful “People Say.” Keep in mind that Art Neville started the Meters in 1967 in New Orleans. They have been the backbone of the funk community since then. In 1984, when the band added Brian Stoltz to the puzzle, they formed the Funky Meters. Since then, they have had several incantations, but all of them bring the funk hard.

Karl Denson | The Independent | 1/3/2015

James Brown, dubbed the hardest workingman in show business, is long gone. If anyone were to carry the torch in the contemporary touring scene Karl Denson would be a chief contender. Aside from his two active main exploits, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and the Greyboy Allstars, he recently toured with the Rolling Stones in Australia as lead saxophone and gigs regularly with popular ska act Slightly Stoopid. These impressive accolades are further testament that he is continually sought after session musician in addition to his otherwise busy schedule. Recently Denson has diversified his Tiny Universe band’s repertoire by doing tribute shows to certain legendary performers. I was lucky enough to catch his Ray Charles tribute shows in Colorado last year and was stunned with how adaptable his band was with the newly rehearsed material and reinterpretations.

EOTO Closes Their Outer Orbit Tour at Home in Colorado

EOTO is made up of two one day legendary musicians whose motto is, “All Improvised, All the Time.” To have a mantra like that, it takes balls. But Michael Travis and Jason Hann, most notably from String Cheese Incident, are not afraid of anything. These two long time players in the music industry feel comfortable when most musicians do not. That is a mark of a duo that lives and breathes music.

Leftover Salmon | New Years | Chicago, IL

Leftover Salmon celebrated 25 years of playing together on New Years Eve 2014 with Keller Williams opening at the Vic Theatre Chicago. If you want to see a band with deep roots and branches that are rapidly growing towards the sun, catch Leftover as soon as possible. You won’t regret it. The old saying, “it’s not the years it’s the miles” is ever so true as they seem 25 years young and ready to do another 25.

Yonder Mountain String Band | New Years

For the first time since Yonder Mountain String Band took up residence at The Boulder Theater for its holiday run (in 2011), the band decided to play three sets for New Year’s Eve. Each set had its own motif, but all three were governed by the same primary theme. When it initially hit the stage, the quintet played an hour of buoyant, uplifting songs that were singed with beauty. For the second set, the band struck a different tone – six pieces hewed from darkness and intensity, imbuing the crowd with a haunting energy. The third set teemed with covers so saliently diverse, we listened to I Know You Rider, the Game of Thrones theme, and a Springsteen classic in unbroken succession. The three sets, in all their variegated glory, were designed and erected using the same principle: propulsion. Stagnant or repetitive jams, ripchords, and “standard versions” were nowhere to be heard.